Tag: checklist

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Short Social Media Checklist:
Converse, Connect, Create

  1. CONVERSE: Social media is ideally a conversation.

    • Reply: reply to comments made to you. Drives me crazy when I post a question only to find out that the person never responds to anyone. You may not need to respond to all questions (see the definition of “trolls”) but don’t neglect responses completely.
  2. CONNECT: Review recent posts by people you are connected to. Set a time limit if you find yourself spending too long on this step.
    • Comment: Are there any posts that you can comment on? Answer questions? Ask questions? Say how cool something is?
    • Re-Share: Are there any posts that you think other people following would enjoy reading? Local events that need to be shared? Industry news?
    • “Like” / +1: Maybe someone has a great picture of a sunset or something else you enjoyed seeing but doesn’t really require a comment. Let them know you liked it by hitting that “like” (facebook) or +1 (Google+) button.
  3. CREATE:
    • What did you do today that’s interesting? (Don’t post about your cereal unless you work for a company that makes cereal please! If you REALLY don’t have anything interesting to say, it’s ok to go a day without posting!)
    • Do you have any events, milestones to share? Upcoming to announce or events you just wrapped up. Some goal you achieved?
    • Do you have a photo or flyer? Visuals often draw people’s attention.
    • What is special about this? Don’t just share what, share something that’s interesting and unique about it if you can.
    • Is there a WWWWWH? Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.
    • Is there a question you can ask? You want to engage people, remember, it’s a conversation.
If you don’t have time to do all of this, don’t panic. Just do something regularly – don’t over think it too much.
Disclaimer: We don’t want any political gaffs so when I say don’t over think it, if you think you would offend your mom or it needs to be a private post, don’t post it. Also if you wouldn’t say it to the person’s face, don’t say it.
I recommend focusing on positive “I like” instead of negative “I hate” posts and responses.
Also, if your business is larger you may need more tools and to focus on more like best times to post and scheduled announcements or reminders. This is just a checklist to help get you started.
Worth repeating: Social media is ideally a conversation.

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Social Media checklist for Restaurants

Quick checklist for Restaurants:

  • google places
  • urbanspoon
  • yelp
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • foursquare
  • instagram

These are the places you should have information about your restaurant in order of importance.

 

Information you should include:

  • Address
  • Days and Hours
  • Phone Number
  • Website address
  • Photos of your food
  • Photos of your seating
  • Parking info if it’s downtown or may not be blatantly obvious
  • Do you have wifi?
  • Some may let you add  links to twitter, facebook or other profiles.

What you should post on a more regular basis will be determined by your food type, your business, your personal preferences AND how your customers interact with you online.

Common regular updates via social media for restaurants  include:

  • Post daily or seasonal specials. Either type it out, take a photo of a chalkboard with the handwritten version or even take a picture of the dishes themselves.
  • Post information about bands (don’t forget to include if there’s a cover cost.)
  • Holidays or other special events.
  • If the restaurant is closed for a holiday, private party or even death or illness in a family run shop.

A lot of these suggestions will also work for coffee shops, pubs, and bars.

Do NOT seed any of these website with fake reviews or overly complimentary reviews about your own restaurant. This is just tacky. Also, asking friends and family to post can sometimes be overkill as well. Too many “this is my favorite place!!!!!” reviews with no details is annoying to the readers. It’s better to let reviews happen naturally.

Reminder: If you change when you serve breakfast or any time you change your hours and other vital information, please be sure to post the new hours and info on all of your social networks and website. Don’t forget to update your website as well!

Extras:
For those with a little more time time, check out these additional social apps and services. Also you should review travel apps for

  • Trip Advisor
  • food spotting: pictures of food
  • opentable: for reservations
  • groupon and/or living social: if you want to offer a coupon or deal

Lesser known or newer:
Some of these are more relevant for certain cities over others as well.

  • chewsy
  • forkly.com
  • nosh.me
  • Dimmi
  • Zagat

(List updated on Feb 1, 2014)

 

Update September, 2015:  Urbanspoon was bought by Zomato and they ruined the interface. They might recover and they might still have enough users to warrant submitting info but I would focus on Yelp first. Also for the “lesser known or newer” section, I would flip through these: http://www.producthunt.com/e/future-of-food